The present invention relates to a method of, and an apparatus suitable for use in, packing slaughtered birds, including poultry, into an envelope, especially a bag or a bag shaped package, to be sealed after filling.
In a method which has been proposed for the mechanical packing of poultry to be frozen, the legs of the poultry are folded against the bird after which the whole bird is pressed into a package and the package is sealed behind the legs. An apparatus for carrying out this method has been proposed and is based on the same principle; that is: first the legs are folded or bent up and then the body is pushed into the package.
It will be appreciated that, when packing birds, for example poultry, in a folded configuration, spare room must be allowed so that the birds can be inserted in the bags with the bags reliably not being split. This is, of course, disadvantageous when the birds are to be frozen, it being well-known that as small a bag as possible should be used for freezing, so that the likelihood of ice-burning can be reduced.